REWA women's soccer coach Sekove Tama Vosuga has urged former district and national reps to take their time out to help develop soccer at the grassroots level.
Yesterday, Vosuga's Rewa side qualified for the Bargain Box Fiji Limited women's Inter District Championship after holding Nadroga to a scoreless draw at Govind Park.
The Delta girl's did enough to secure the vital one point to move to the next level.
Vosuga, the former Lautoka, Suva and national rep, said a lot of development was needed to better Fiji's ranking in women's soccer.
He said this was where former players needed to give a helping hand.
"My wish is that the former players should get back to the ground and help build these women footballers," Vosuga said.
"If we need the sport to grow then we need as many former reps to come out and help in development. It is no use keeping the knowledge. It is no use sitting around the kava bowl and reminiscing about the old times. You have to get out on the field and share the knowledge with the youngsters."
On day one Rewa upset defending champion Suva 1-0 and then down Nadi by the same score-line.
Vosuga said Rewa had reached the semi-final after a long time.
"It was a great effort from the girls," Vosuga said.
"We had problems with the weather back in Nausori. This team was just made up in two weeks.
"I wasn't with them last week as I was with the Lami team in the Courts IDC.
"There are seven Under-20 players in the team. We only had one week of technical and tactical work."
"For a big tournament like this you need more time. It is about doing things every day. These girls just play the IDC and that's it. There are no other tournaments."
"More development work needs to be done in women's soccer.
"Last year we failed to qualify for the semi-finals after going down to Labasa in the final pool match. I have been with the Rewa women's team for the last three years.
"I have been telling them that the hard work will pay dividends one day. Now we have qualified for the semi-finals after many years."
Meanwhile hosts Ba also qualified for the semi-finals after beating Tavua 1-0 in the final pool match yesterday. The match was disrupted after a heavy down pour flooded parts of Govind Park making it unplayable.
The semi-finals will kick-off at 8am today.